BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Months before her history-making election, Claudia López was butting heads with a television anchor over his description of her character.

"You talk sometimes like you're arguing," he quipped on a live segment.

"Don't come at me with that condescending chauvinism," she shot back.

Now the 49-year-old politician with a doctorate from Northwestern University in Chicago will take her fight against corruption and inequality to the big stage as the first elected female mayor of Colombia's largest city.

The analyst-turned-politician's victory is being hailed as an important advancement in a nation where women made up just over 10 percent of all candidates aspiring to become mayors or governors in Sunday's elections.

She told supporters: "This is a small step for me. But for Colombian women this is a huge step forward."